People with osteoarthritis often wonder what has led to the development of their condition.  One question that is commonly asked is whether exercise or physical activity can lead to or cause osteoarthritis.  Recently, the Centers for Disease Control commissioned a review of research on exercise and OA. 

In the introduction to this review it states, “In the absence of major joint injury, no evidence exists to indicate that regular moderate to vigorous physical activity in amounts that are commonly recommended for general health benefits increases the risk of developing OA.”

They do acknowledge that certain repetitive activities over time may be exceptions.  They write, “However, some select groups of persons may have a moderately elevated risk of OA due to long-term participation in high-impact activities.”

“For example, competitive athletes who participate and train at high levels (e.g., elite, professional sports, National Teams, Olympic athletes) in sports requiring high joint impact (e.g., football, track and field, soccer) for many years have higher rates of incident knee or hip OA than do non-athletes, which summarizes these studies). Increased risk of OA has been reported in one or more studies for the following sports: football (Australian rules), soccer, track and field, basketball, boxing, ice hockey, orienteering running, wrestling, tennis, ballet, and handball.”

After an extensive summary of existing studies, the authors of this review wrote, “In the absence of joint injury, participation in recreational or leisure physical activities at levels commonly recommended for general health benefits does not increase the risk of developing OA. However, long-term high-level participation in select high-impact sports (e.g., football, soccer, track and field) may be associated with increased risk of OA. As such, health promotion messages should be developed to inform persons choosing to participate in such activities that they may have increased risk for OA, and that modifying other OA risk factors (e.g., maintaining normal body weight, preventing joint injuries) may help to lower risk.”